The present invention relates generally to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and specifically to configuring I/O signal timing characteristics of such a circuit.
The high clock speeds of today""s application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) demand that critical timing to external devices must be met. During the development cycle, great effort is spent to complete timing analysis and design a printed circuit board that will meet all of the timing specifications. If the same ASIC is used in a different design, the timing analysis effort needs to be reanalyzed. The timing constraints make the printed board layout more difficult, resulting in a longer development cycle.
Time to market is very critical in the product life cycle. Often the design engineer is challenged by a complex design and short development schedules. It would be very attractive to be able to design with high speed ASICs without the intense timing analysis. In some cases, there are no resources (engineers, equipment, tools, knowledge, and time) to complete successful timing analysis. Currently, timing and EMC issues are solved by a combination of delay lines, PCB layout, selection of proper vendor for external devices, ferrite beads and enclosure requirements. These techniques are time consuming and expensive. Sometimes there is not enough resources and/or time to complete a successful design.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method to overcome the above-identified problems. The present invention addresses such a need.
An application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is disclosed. The ASIC includes a standard cell, the standard cell including a plurality of logic functions. The ASIC also includes an input/output (I/O) configuration function coupled to at least a portion of the logic functions. The ASIC further includes a field programmable gate array (FPGA) function coupled to the I/O configuration function. The FPGA function controls the I/O configuration function based upon a configuration file.
A system in accordance with the present invention reduces the cost and time associated with the timing analysis activities during development. An FPGA function within the ASIC is utilized to control the I/O characteristics such as delay, pin mapping, termination and/or slew rate for the I/O. Different I/O configurations will be provided by the FPGA function depending on the environment the ASIC is used in. By providing an ASIC that is adaptable to different timing criteria through FPGA programming, the timing analysis performed by the user of the ASIC will be substantially reduced, resulting in a reduction of the development cycle.